Radhika Apte is getting real about the term “body positivity” and we’re falling even more in love with the actress, who never shies away from voicing her opinions. The actress recently said that she started to feeling “depressed” when her roles were taken by those who “look a certain way.”
In an interaction with us, Radhika called out “a lot of” her fellow colleagues for their double standards on body positivity. Radhika said that most of the actresses don’t embrace their age and body despite endorsing positive self-image on social media.
“I did feel very let down. I think it’s a stupid thing to be because it’s quite naive of me. There are exceptions definitely. There are some actresses who are fantastic. They truly embody body positivity or authenticity and they are phenomenal. But a lot of them don’t and we know that as audiences, filmmakers, and directors. But we accept it. Nobody says anything about it,” Radhika told us.
Radhika, whose uncompromising attitude and belief in her talents has made her one of the most sought-after actresses in the film industry, further said that this phenomenon creates a “very negative energy” for artistes like her who are constantly working towards breaking the conventional standards of beauty set out for female celebrities.
“I feel it’s taking jobs away is one thing but I can’t be surrounded by people who hate growing old. I can’t be surrounded by people constantly wanting to change their bodies because it makes me wonder whether I should do that. I will never do that but I don’t want to be with people who don’t like themselves so much. It’s such a demoralising and negative energy. And nobody speaks about it. All we talk about is body positivity and let’s accept age, really? As actors, you’re not doing what you’re saying. As directors, you are casting that. As producers, you are actually wanting that. And as an audience, you don’t care. And the effect it has in America now, teenage girls really want nose jobs as their birthday gift and I wouldn’t be surprised if it starts happening here,” Radhika added.
In a career spanning over 15 years, Radhika has a number of acclaimed projects to her credit, including Badlapur, Manjhi, Phobia, Parched, Sacred Games, Pad Man, and Andhadhun. She is currently receiving praises for ZEE5 original film ‘Forensic’. But it wasn’t an easy journey for Radhika, who didn’t have any film connection in the industry.
“The most difficult thing I felt, in the beginning, was that if you want to be a doctor you study and go to a medical school but this profession is a tricky one because there’s no one way of doing it. Every single person’s journey is different. You’ll never find two similar stories unless you are just born in a family and you are launched. Now we have casting directors and but at that time there were barely any casting directors. So I think the hardest part for me was just not knowing what to do. Coming to Bombay is okay but then what? I spent 3-4 months just knowing what to do,” the actress said.
